


My Sword is Yours

by lady_lannister



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-20 18:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1521104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_lannister/pseuds/lady_lannister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cersei doesn't want to be a lady - she wants to be a warrior just like her brother, Jaime.  Written for the Tumblr OTP: Beautiful Golden Fools challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Sword is Yours

She was forbidden from being on the practice grounds when Jaime had his sword-fighting lessons. 

On their last nameday, Jaime had received a real sword while she had received a necklace and a new gown.  Cersei had begged and begged her lord father to give her a sword as well, but he had refused, telling her that she was a little girl and she was to be a proper lady.  She had not wanted to be a proper lady.  She wanted to do what Jaime did. 

Lord Tywin knew her well enough – knew her willfulness – that he told the entire staff that she was not even to set foot on the practice grounds while Jaime was training.  But Cersei always watched him practice from her perch in the window, once her hateful Septa decreed that she was finished with her lessons.  She would watch him practice with Addam Marbrand, under the watchful eye of Ser Benedict, and imagine what it was like to be Jaime.  Cersei knew that she could do what Jaime did, if she were only given the chance. 

Jaime would always find her as soon as his lessons were over, with sweat clinging to him and his eyes bright and alive.  He was a warrior, even if he was only nine years old.  The sight of it never ceased to anger her.  Cersei tried to do as her father had ordered, but, finally, the lioness within her – the warrior within her - could stand it no longer, and she took Jaime by the hand, dragging him to his bedchamber. 

“What are you doing?” he finally asked when they were alone, the door firmly closed behind them.  

“You will to teach me to use a sword,” she said matter-of-factly as she dug through his armoire.  Jaime watched her in amazement as she stripped off her gown and put on a pair of his breeches and one of his tunics.  When she sat on the floor and pulled on a pair of his shoes, Jaime became concerned.

“Father said that you weren’t allowed to hold a sword.  You’re not even allowed on the practice grounds.”

“Father isn’t here.”  She saw that Jaime wasn’t convinced, and took his hand in her own.  “Please, Jaime.”  She hated that he could do something she couldn’t.  It wasn’t right.  She was the oldest, not Jaime.  “Don’t you want to teach me?  So we both know how?”

He smiled and nodded.  “But you can’t tell.” 

They snuck out of the castle and down to the armory, taking two practice swords.  Ser Benedict had gone to his quarters already, so it was only the two of them on the field as the sun disappeared into the Sunset Sea. 

Jaime put one of the swords in her hand, carefully curling her fingers around the handle.  It was heavier than she thought it would be, but Jaime had stood behind her and covered her hand with his own as he showed her how to cut through the salty air as if the sword were simply an extension of her arm. 

That was how it began. 

They made a habit of it, in the weeks that followed.  It was easiest to sneak out after supper, when the staff was cleaning up the castle and putting Tyrion to bed.  Every evening, Jaime would teach Cersei what he had learned from Ser Benedict that day.

Cersei felt her own power every time she heard the clinking of the practice swords she and Jaime swung.  It was easy for her to mirror her twin’s actions now that he had taught her how to hold the sword.  They moved the same – had the same instincts.  She had never felt more like a lioness than when she and Jaime were clashing swords.

She had overheard the Master-at-Arms tell their father that Jaime had a natural talent with a sword.  Ser Benedict said that Jaime could become the greatest swordsman in all the Seven Kingdoms.  _I could be the best, just like Jaime._   Cersei smiled as she and Jaime battled, the salty sea air blowing across the Sunset Sea.  They looked almost the same, the both of them dressed in Jaime’s clothes.  Though her long hair flowed down her back while Jaime’s was short.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Cersei and Jaime both jumped in terror at the sound of Lord Tywin’s voice.

“Father,” Cersei began shakily.  “You’re back from the Capitol already.”

“You’re not answering my question, girl.  Did I not tell you that you are to act like a lady?  You’re a Lannister and Lannisters don’t act like fools.”

“It’s my fault, Father,” Jaime said bravely.  “I wanted to practice more and-“

“Do you take me for a fool, Jaime?”

Cersei sighed inwardly.  Their father had told Cersei many times before that she was not to lead Jaime astray.  Lord Tywin always blamed her when the twins got into trouble.  She had heard him talking to Uncle Kevan.  Father had said that he would not allow Cersei to lead his heir around by the nose.  Her greatest fear was that he would separate them.  She wouldn’t be able to bear it if Jaime wasn’t by her side always.

“What part of my orders did you not understand, Cersei?”

_I’m a lion.  And lions are warriors.  I should know how to fight._

“I’m sorry, Father,” she whispered.  There was no room to protest in the face of their father’s anger. 

“You’ll return those swords to the armory and go to bed.  And this will never happen again, am I understood?  If I ever hear that you’ve had a sword in your hand, Cersei, you’ll go live with your Aunt Genna, where there’ll be no such temptation.”

She and Jaime both nodded, and put the swords away before walking back to the castle, hand in hand, as Cersei blinked back tears.  Jaime walked her to her chamber, looking around before going inside with her and closing the door.  Once they were alone, she began to cry in earnest and Jaime held her, whispering for her to please stop crying.

“It’s all right, Cersei.  I’ll learn for the both of us.”

“It’s not the same,” she growled, tearing away from him and sinking down onto the floor.  _I’m a warrior.  I want a sword, not a gown._ “If I can’t fight…”

“I’ll protect you,” Jaime insisted, dropping to his knees beside her.  “I’ll always protect you, Cersei.  You don’t need to learn.  My sword is yours.”  He wiped her tears then before kissing her cheek and hugging her tightly.  “Don’t cry.  We’ll always be together and you’ll always have me.  No one can hurt you if you have me.”

Cersei hugged her brother back and nodded against his shoulder, knowing what he spoke was true.  She knew without a doubt that Jaime loved her more than anyone in the whole world.  Just as she loved him. 

_Jaime’s sword is my sword._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it...
> 
> I've never written Jaime/Cersei before, except very short passages that were incidental to the Jaime/Sansa fiction that I've written. However, after last Sunday's abomination, I felt compelled to contribute to the Beautiful Golden Fools challenge.
> 
> This may become part of a series of Jaime/Cersei works that take place pre-A Game of Thrones (and exists in the same universe as my post-A Game of Thrones Jaime/Sansa fics). I would like to explore how the twins' relationship evolved and how the both of them (and their relationship) changed during the time they spent in King's Landing, both separate and apart.


End file.
